𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 54

CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH THE AFTERMATH FOLLOWS

. . .

"What, in the name of Helga, was that for?" Cedric exploded as soon as the door of the classroom locked behind them, sitting down on one of the tables, Rosie pacing in front of them.

The kiss had been just what Rosie was looking for - shock factor. She didn't want to be labelled as a whore, or for Theo to have any reason to talk to her, and so, she had kissed Cedric. 

"It didn't mean anything - but you read the article right?" Rosie replied, pacing in front of him, looking utterly confused with herself. 

"Well yes, but I didn't see the bit where it talked about you kissing me in front of the entire school, the teachers and the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang." Cedric said, and Rosie stopped pacing, staring at him for a moment. 

"Ced, I told you not to freak out - and it doesn't mean anything, like I've said." She replied, and the boy frowned.

"It can't just mean nothing.." He said, and Rosie's eyes narrowed. "Forget about that - why on earth did you kiss me? You could've kissed Fred or George or even bloody Angelina." 

"I wouldn't kiss either of the twins, thank you very much. Angelina I could maybe go for, but the twins are like... no that would be weird. I actually have a reason to kiss you." Rosie replied, looking oddly nonchalant as she came to terms with the topic. 

"And that would be?" Cedric cocked an eyebrow, looking up at her as he did so. He was skeptical that there was any good reason for Rosie just to kiss him like that. 

"Think about it - it gets that bitch of a news reporter off of our back." She began, holding up a single finger. "It pisses Cho and Theo off." She added another finger. "And well it gives us excuses to keep meeting up."

"What?" Cedric frowned, and Rosie shook her head.

"For the Hogwarts champion you have a habit of being utterly clueless." Rosie pulled herself up to sit on the teachers desk, pointing her wand at Cedric, who didn't even blink at the insult. 

"You're not supposed to get help." Rosie said, and he frowned. "As a Triwizard champion, you're supposed to practise and figure out the clues on your own - no help needed."

"But that's basically impossible-" Cedric said, thinking back to the egg that he had retrieved from the dragon, and how he had been utterly clueless about it for ages. 

"Exactly, which is why I feel absolutely no shame in helping you. However, now that I know.. now that we know that Rita Skeeter is interested in us, we need to be careful." Rosie finished. 

"So what are you suggesting?" Cedric asked, and Rosie blushed, staying silent for a moment, and letting Cedric figure it out for himself. "You want us to fake date." He finally said.

"Well not fake date - but if anyone asks us then that's what we can tell them." Rosie shrugged, and Cedric stared for a moment. 

"Fine, if that's what you think is the best way for us to continue practising. It's too risky to stop practising now - there's only a couple of weeks until the task." He said, his tone soundingly slightly strange.

They fell silent, as the both of them tried to organise their thoughts towards the whole situation - the kissing thing, the Witch Weekly article, just everything.

"Please don't be mad at me, Ced." Rosie said, her voice so much softer than it usually was. He looked up in surprise, eyes torn away from quill scratching that had decorated the table. 

"Rosie, I'm not mad." He said, standing up from the desk and walking over to sit next to Rosie, freezing for just a moment as she leant her head on his shoulder.

"No?"

"No, I'm definetely not mad, the whole thing just took me by surprise. But I understand why it happened. You're good at reasoning." The Diggory boy replied. 

"That's because I had reasons to do it." Rosie shrugged, giggling slightly as Cedric wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer for the slightest hint of a moment. 

"I should get going - I have Herbology and I'll have to deal with everyone staring." Cedric said, getting up and walking towards the door. "Oh, and for your information, I wouldn't mind having my heartstrings tugged on by the conniving Rosie Kersey." 

And with that, Cedric left the room, leaving Rosie feeling somewhat strange, a feeling other than anger or jealousy forming in the pit of her stomach. Something warm, something happy.

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